Category Archives: General

MWC 2024: Navigating Opportunities and Challenges in the Telecom and Digital Infrastructure Landscape

Once a year, at this time, we release our update on the telecom and digital infrastructure sectors. Mobile World Congress (MWC 2024) serves as a catalyst, helping us validate our market assumptions and gain new insights. This year, our primary observation is that these sectors are undergoing a transformative period characterized by divestments and consolidation. Companies and financial… Read More »

A Look Under The Hood Of The FCC National Broadband Map

The FCC recently released version 2 of the National Broadband Map. It’s an ambitious project that aims to provide information on the available connectivity services at every location in the US. The NTIA plans to use the map to identify unserved and underserved communities to provide funding under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. I was… Read More »

Telecom Cloud Platforms: A White Knight or Trojan Horse?

The extension of the public cloud to telecom networks is one of the most important technology trends with far reaching consequences for both cloud providers and telcos. Cloud providers are making an aggressive bid for telcos to host their network infrastructure on the public cloud. They argue that this will help telcos cut their costs, evolve their service… Read More »

Enabling Direct-to-Handset Satellite Connectivity: Highlights from the Proposed FCC Regulations

Direct-to-handset satellite services proposed by the likes of Lynk Global, AST SpaceMobile and SpaceX are bold commercial endeavours that lack the appropriate regulatory framework for sharing spectrum between mobile network operators and satellite service providers. The FCC is proposing a framework to govern the use of mobile spectrum by satellite operators, which it calls Supplementary Coverage from Space… Read More »

Industry Update – MWC2023: Velocity or Suspended Animation?

Mobile World Congress 2023 is back to its old glory as the top telecom/Internet event, with attendees rushing to physically meet post the Covid era. It launched under the “Velocity” theme to highlight the speed at which technology was accelerating. This contrasted against a backdrop of market and financial challenges plaguing the mobile industry ecosystem which were evident… Read More »

Edge Computing: Has The Edge Turned Dull?

It did not go unnoticed the downturn in activities revolving around edge computing. Several analysts and industry sites have reported on it more than a year ago, like Lightreading. In the latest Xona Partners Insight Note, we provide our insights on this market segment(download below). The Edge computing is one of these foggy concepts that has in it… Read More »

How the Different Direct-to-Handset Satellite Constellations Stack Up

Update – May 23, 2023: We have published a report detailing the technical performance of AST Space Mobile direct-to-handset LEO constellation. Click here for additional information. Different approaches are possible to enable Direct-to-Handset (DTH) satellite connectivity. For instance, there’s the approach by T-Mobile and SpaceX (see here) and by Apple and Globalstar (see here). AST SpaceMobile is taking… Read More »

Enterprise Private Wireless Networks: 5G or Wi-Fi?

In telecom circles 5G is a panacea for all problems: there is a ready 5G application for any connectivity need. This makes 5G dominate private wireless network projections, while Wi-Fi is either ignored or dismissed as unreliable or unable to provide millisecond-grade latency. This ignores the fact that Wi-Fi is progressing along a roadmap that addresses its shortcomings… Read More »

Dispelling The Sustainability Myth in Telecom Networks: What’s Worth The Investment?

I wrote this Insight Note for two reasons: 1. The rise in cost of energy threatens to stress the financial performance of service providers; and 2. I want to provide context for potential investments in power saving technologies to help investors decide which would be worthwhile. Energy consumption in telecom networks has become a confounding issue because of… Read More »

Is Direct Satellite-to-Device the Largest Opportunity in Satcom’s History?

The direct satellite-to-device (DS2D) market is expected to reach $35 billion by 2030, and counting 400 million average monthly subscriptions driven by 5G technology (according to NSR). This is about $7/month. This highlights a very sensitive business case: constellations cost billions to deploy and operate; they need a refresh every 5-10 years. With much of the world’s unconnected… Read More »

Taking the Quantum Leap: How quantum technology is set to transform communication networks

Key Takeaways Quantum computing decimates RSA cryptography which underpins most of our digital platforms: you can’t have a happy quantum computing world without first protecting all of the critical infrastructures against quantum-enabled attacks. The quantum threat development is not gradual and can come suddenly to break everything. This can come fast to threaten our networks and the Internet.… Read More »

Can 5G Bridge The Urban-Rural Digital Divide?

Since Covid further exposed the rural digital deficit, many have asked to deploy 5G to provide broadband services in rural areas. Many others are skeptical for various reasons. To sort through the issue, We were commissioned to investigate how 5G can bridge the urban-rural digital divide. In our paper (download here), we review some of the technical characteristics… Read More »

Latency in LEO Satellites vs. Terrestrial Fiber

Latency is a key differentiating parameter for new communication networks such as LEO satellite constellations and 5G. The interest in latency has increased as the value proposition for these networks hinges on enabling latency-dependent applications. This got some competing technology options nervous. For instance, LEO satellites provide as much as 20x round trip delay advantage over GEO satellites.… Read More »